From the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes this long-awaited follow-up.

Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It s a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie s five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his meaningless life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: Why was I here?

A moving and profound contemporary fable, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is an important reminder of the interconnectedness of us all.

From the Hardcover edition.

Review&colon;

Part melodrama and part parable, Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven weaves together three stories, all told about the same man: 83-year-old Eddie, the head maintenance person at Ruby Point Amusement Park. As the novel opens, readers are told that Eddie, unsuspecting, is only minutes away from death as he goes about his typical business at the park. Albom then traces Eddie's world through his tragic final moments, his funeral, and the ensuing days as friends clean out his apartment and adjust to life without him. In alternating sections, Albom flashes back to Eddie's birthdays, telling his life story as a kind of progress report over candles and cake each year. And in the third and last thread of the novel, Albom follows Eddie into heaven where the maintenance man sequentially encounters five pivotal figures from his life (a la A Christmas Carol). Each person has been waiting for him in heaven, and, as Albom reveals, each life (and death) was woven into Eddie's own in ways he never suspected. Each soul has a story to tell, a secret to reveal, and a lesson to share. Through them Eddie understands the meaning of his own life even as his arrival brings closure to theirs.

Albom takes a big risk with the novel; such a story can easily veer into the saccharine and preachy, and this one does in moments. But, for the most part, Albom's telling remains poignant and is occasionally profound. Even with its flaws, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a small, pure, and simple book that will find good company on a shelf next to It's A Wonderful Life. --Patrick O'Kelley

About the Author&colon;

Mitch Albom is the author of nine books. His first novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven , is the most successful U.S. hardback first novel ever and has to date sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Tuesdays With Morrie, (1997) his chronicle of time spent with a beloved but dying college professor, spent four years on the New York Times bestseller list and is now the most successful memoir ever published. Both books were eventually turned into celebrated TV films. The critically acclaimed Five People You Meet in Heaven aired on ABC in winter, 2004. Oprah Winfrey produced the film version of Tuesdays With Morrie in December 1999; starring Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria. The film garnered four Emmy awards, including best TV film, director, actor and supporting actor. An award-winning journalist and radio host, Albom wrote the screenplay for The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and is an established playwright, having authored numerous pieces for the theater, including the off-Broadway version of Tuesdays With Morrie (co-written with Jeffrey Hatcher) which has seen more than 40 productions nationwide, and several recent comedies which have been produced and performed in venues across the country. Albom has founded three charities in the metropolitan Detroit area: "The Dream Fund," established in 1989, allows disadvantaged children to become involved with the arts. "A Time To Help," founded in 1998, brings volunteers together once a month to tackle various projects in Detroit, including staffing shelters, building homes with Habitat for Humanity, and operating meals on wheels programs for the elderly. “S.A.Y Detroit,” Albom’s most recent effort, is an umbrella program to fund shelters and care for the homeless in his city. He also raises money for literacy projects through a variety of means including his performances with The Rock Bottom Remainders, a band made up of writers which includes Steven King, Dave Barry, Scott Turrow, Amy Tan and Ridley Pearson. Albom serves on the boards of various charities and, in 1999, was named National Hospice Organization's Man of the Year.

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The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Random House Large Print): Search Results

Book Description:Diversified Publishing, 2010. Paperback. Book Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from US within 10 to 14 business days. Established seller since 2000. Bookseller Inventory # VR-9780739377451

Book Description:Random House Large Print. PAPERBACK. Book Condition: New. 0739377450 Killed in a tragic accident, Eddie, an elderly man who believes that he had an uninspired life, awakens in the afterlife, where he discovers that heaven consists of having five people explain the meaning of one's life. Bookseller Inventory # 6340022

Book Description:Random House USA Inc, United States, 2010. Paperback. Book Condition: New. large type edition. 180 x 127 mm. Language: English Brand New Book. From the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes this long-awaited follow-up. Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It s a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie s five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his meaningless life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: Why was I here? A moving and profound contemporary fable, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is an important reminder of the interconnectedness of us all. From the Hardcover edition. Bookseller Inventory # AAC9780739377451

Book Description:Random House Large Print, 2010. Book Condition: New. Brand New, Unread Copy in Perfect Condition. A+ Customer Service! Summary: From the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes this long-awaited follow-up. Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It s a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie s five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his meaningless life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: Why was I here? A moving and profound contemporary fable, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is an important reminder of the interconnectedness of us all. From the Hardcover edition. Bookseller Inventory # ABE_book_new_0739377450

Book Description:Random House USA Inc, United States, 2010. Paperback. Book Condition: New. large type edition. 180 x 127 mm. Language: English Brand New Book. From the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes this long-awaited follow-up. Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It s a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie s five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his meaningless life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: Why was I here? A moving and profound contemporary fable, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is an important reminder of the interconnectedness of us all. From the Hardcover edition. Bookseller Inventory # AAC9780739377451

Book Description:Paperback. Book Condition: New. 127mm x 18mm x 183mm. Paperback. From the author of the number one "New York Times "bestseller "Tuesdays with Morrie "comes this long-awaited follow-up.Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who ha.Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. 322 pages. 0.295. Bookseller Inventory # 9780739377451